Balıkesir National Forces Museum

Balıkesir Kuvâ-yi Milliye Museum is located at Anafartalar Street No 58 in the center of Balıkesir Province, Türkiye. The building was constructed in 1840 as the residence of Giridizade Mehmet Paşa, the treasurer of the Karesi Sanjak; during the National Struggle it served as a headquarters and from 1947 to 1988 as the municipal building. After restoration, it was opened to the public as a museum on 6 September 1996.

Balıkesir Kuvâ-yi Milliye Museum (Türkiye Culture Portal)

Architectural Features and Floor Plan

The two-story masonry structure preserves the original layout of the mansion.

The ground floor houses the Atatürk Room and the Kuvâ-yi Milliye halls, where decisions made by the local committee organizing the national resistance in Balıkesir, personal belongings of its leaders, photographs, and portrait busts of Atatürk and Latife Hanım in beeswax are exhibited.

Ground Floor (Türkiye Culture Portal)

The upper floor displays archaeological and ethnographic collections arranged chronologically. The galleries trace a chronological sequence of artifacts excavated from Kyzikos, Adramytteion, Daskyleion, and Antandros within the boundaries of Balıkesir.

Upper Floor (Türkiye Culture Portal)

Overview of the Collection

The museum preserves approximately 25,000 objects including movable cultural heritage items, archaeological finds, ethnographic artifacts, and documents from the National Struggle.

Byzantine Bronze Reliquary Crosses

The most prominent group in the archaeological section on the upper floor consists of eight bronze reliquary crosses dated to the Middle Byzantine period (9th–12th centuries). Five of these small encolpia have double doors and three have single doors; they were crafted using casting, engraving, and relief techniques. Their iconography features depictions of “Christ on the Cross,” “Mary Blakhernitissa,” and various saints. Similar artifacts, based on their technical and stylistic features, are associated with workshops in Constantinople and Anatolia.

Attached Unit

The Taksiyarhis Monumental Museum, restored and opened in Ayvalık in 2013, is administratively subordinate to the Balıkesir Kuvâ-yi Milliye Museum Directorate.

Visit Information

Address: Anafartalar Cad. No 58, 10100 Balıkesir

Units: Main Building (Kuvâ-yi Milliye & Archaeology-Ethnography), Taksiyarhis Monumental Museum

The Balıkesir Kuvâ-yi Milliye Museum embodies a multidisciplinary institutional identity, bringing to life the local memory of the National Struggle through tangible documents while presenting the region’s thousands of years of cultural heritage under one roof.